A big part of our business is working with companies to understand the changes that technology – and specifically broadband – can bring to their business. There is probably no better example of this than the coming wave of “Connected TV” in which consumers will be able to connect their high speed broadband connection (via wire or wireless) directly to their HDTV set. The net result is the ability to watch any Internet video on a big, crisp screen from the comfort of your couch or favorite easy chair.

There is a lot of great content on the Web that will just never make it onto a cable channel. Whether it’s big-idea speakers from the TED conferences, or “how to” videos from Instructables, or independent films from Atom, I want to watch this long-form content on my TV, not my PC.

While this has huge impact for consumers, it will fundamentally change the relationship that HDTV manufacturers have with their customers. To date, the consumer’s “relationship” is with their cable provider. Historically, the TV manufacturer simply sold a big piece of glass, diodes and plastic and that was it. Less than 5 percent of consumers even sent in the warranty card.

But with the advent of connected-TV, the consumer electronics companies now find themselves in need of service design. Because now they have a very tight connection with the consumer and the revenues from services over the life span of the product will far exceed the revenues from the hardware. After all, there’s got to be some way of organizing and navigating the ever-growing mass of video content that is out there which in turn will lead to a wide variety of other value added service.

This is why we’re excited to be working with AnySource Media. They essentially empower the HDTV manufacturers with a four-pillar platform that brings Internet video to HDTV. These pillars include the embedded software that resides in the HDTV, pre-negotiated video content deals, an advertising platform that dynamicaly matches viewers and contextual ads, and a backend data center that ties this all together.

Connected TV is a “tipping point” technology. You’re already seeing the first few models come with many more to follow in 2010. I predict that by 2012, we’ll all be reminiscing about the “old days” when you couldn’t access your favorite show from the cloud, on demand.

This is not about watching more TV – this is about watching better TV, which means content you want, when you want it.

I was in the booth of one of the major electronics manufacturers, last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They had a darkened area where you could compare the HDTV sets from last year with this year’s latest models. Apparently the point of this was to show us how much better these models were. The only thing is – it wasn’t any better. Yes, I’m sure from an engineering perspective it was better. But to my human eyes I could tell no difference. (Keep in mind, I am an A/V geek at heart.) I asked some other people (fellow A/V geeks I am sure) standing nearby who were looking at the monitors, "Do you see any difference?" They shrugged their shoulders and gave out a simple, "Nope." It was then that I realized that we have reached the point of diminishing returns as it relates to home electronics. How much sharper can razor sharp be, before I can’t tell the difference? At what point do my ears no longer distinguish between awesome sound and "awesomer" sound? This is why I am excited about next-gen HDTV being able to connect to the Internet. Getting new, unique and different content while I relax on my couch in front of a big sharp screen matters to me. The arms race for technological domination in home theatre is over. Now the manufacturers need to look to value-added services that consumers want, need or dream about.

This Thursday we are on our way to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in support of our client, AnySource Media . They have what we believe to be a “game-changer” in the world of consumer electronics – they have developed a seamless platform for Internet-connected TV. In Las Vegas they (and their initial partners Funai, CinemaNow and ST MicroElectronics) will be demonstrating their Internet Video Navigator solution in their exhibit spaces. Essentially, they have developed the software that gets embedded into the silicon chips inside new HDTVs which enables you to plug your broadband connection directly into your TV, just as you would with any other media input. Using nothing but your standard remote, you use a simple up/down/left/right interface to navigate through virtually any “channel” of video from the Internet.

We are working with the team at AnySource Media to maximize the customer experience as well as to design a myriad of value-added services that this platform makes possible. AnySource Media is not only developing the embedded technology, but also pulling together the content providers (watch for their announcements soon) as well as the advertising platform that incorporates a wide variety of ad formats. There are a number of “connected TV” announcements this week at CES, but AnySource Media’s open approach is the only one that parallels the most successful business models on the Web today. (In fact, it’s very much like Apple’s wildly successful App Store).

If you are out in Las Vegas, get in touch!